New Delhi: Amid outbreak of COVID-19 in country, Indian researchers and industries have developed medical equipment and instruments to fight Coronavirus. Most of these are less expensive and easily available than global brands.
India has produced testing kits, PPEs, masks, face shields and nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs. Now Indian scientists have developed Ultra violet cabinet for disinfection.
International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India and MEKINS Industries have co-developed a UVC-based Cabinet for disinfecting non-critical hospital items, laboratory wear, and PPEs in the research laboratories to prevent surface contamination of COVID 19.
It can also be used to disinfect items exhibited to customers in commercial establishments and several domestic items.Transmission through surface contamination is an unpredictable risk in which common utilities play a key role.
"Safe and effective strategies, technologies and products for disinfecting spaces, surfaces and various objects become increasingly critical in breaking the chain of virus transmission in the post-lockdown times. Simple, safe and cost-effective solutions based on UV light, thermal treatments, and aerosol mists of acceptable non-chlorine based disinfectants will thus be increasingly pressed in service”, said Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary,DST.
The best way to deal with this transmission is by a dry and chemical-free rapid disinfection through exposure to UVC light. UVC irradiation with 254 nm is strongly absorbed by RNA part of COVID-19, leading to molecular structural damage via a photodimerization process and thus inactivating it.
